Call Me, Maybe
by meridian-rose
Summary: Elijah's a vampire. That doesn't mean he doesn't need to pick up his dry cleaning. Nor does it mean he and Jenna shouldn't be friends – or more. Canon AU – Jenna is aware of the supernatural community and Elijah's part in it, and she's more taken with, than afraid, of him. For the trope bingo prompt "curtainfic"


Jenna turned from the counter, trying to juggle her wallet and the newly dry cleaned jacket, and bumped into the customer who'd walked up behind her.

"Sorry," she said. She looked up and found herself staring at Elijah. He gave her a warm smile.

"Quite my fault. I should have given you more room. You seem to be in a hurry."

"No. Yes." Jenna gestured with the jacket. "Sometimes I just seem to have so much to do and I get into the habit of rushing, you know?"

Elijah gracefully stepped around her, handing a ticket to the proprietor. "More haste, less speed. Or, perhaps a more suitable axiom would be to remind you to stop and smell the roses."

Jenna laughed. "You're right, of course." The proprietor had gone into the back room and she said, "It's a little weird seeing a vampire picking up his dry cleaning."

Elijah ran a finger down his expensive jacket. "Vampire or not, our clothes get dirty. Especially when people will try to stake us."

Her eyes widened. "Someone tried to stake you?"

"Someone did stake me. Clumsy attempt, I must say. Missed my heart, though even that would not kill me for long. Ruined my shirt but the jacket should come up clean."

The aforesaid jacket was returned to him and conversation involving vampires ceased in front of the blissfully ignorant human. Sometimes Jenna wished she didn't know about vampires. It had been bad enough taking on two teenagers. Nothing could have prepared her for that, let alone what had followed.

It was true that she could have a vampire compel her to forget all about the supernatural if she dared forgo the vervain. Yet vampires were too much a part of her life now, part of Elena's life. The more she discovered, the more horrified she became, but there was no going back.

Elijah, gentleman that he was, held the door for her and they stepped out into the sunshine.

"Thank you." She brushed back a strand of hair from her face. "Um would – no, forget it, it's silly."

Elijah gazed at her. "What is?"

"I was just wondering," _dear lord, what a stupid idea_, "if you'd like to," _shut up Jenna_, "get a drink." _Well, you've done it now._ She waved a hand toward the nearest coffee shop. "Smell the roses." _Jesus, are you trying to kill yourself with embarrassment?_ "Or taste the cappuccino."

She expected him to give a very polite refusal. She was sure he had other things to be doing, more important business to attend to.

Elijah nodded. "I would like that very much."

A few minutes later they were sitting at a terrace table, Elijah sipping his coffee while Jenna nibbled at a cookie. Elijah had insisted on paying and Jenna had let him. Their dry cleaning was neatly folded over a third chair. She thought about how much dry cleaning Elijah had to pay for.

"You must get through a lot of shirts," she said, shattering the illusion of normalcy.

He grinned. "A few." He leaned back in his chair, the picture of elegance and sophistication. If she weren't dating Alaric, and if Elijah were not a couple of centuries older than her…Jenna pushed the thought aside.

"I admire you," Elijah said, changing the subject, his tone serious. Her heart soared at his praise like she were sixteen and the school jock had winked at her. "It must have been quite an adjustment." Jenna's eye found the daylight ring that let him walk in the sun and she nodded.

"Vampires are real," she said softly. That had just been the start of it.

"Yes. Becoming the Gilbert children's guardian, too. That must have been difficult."

She nodded, took a gulp of coffee. That wasn't something she wanted to discuss. Some days she could handle talking about it, other days she dissolved in tears, and this could be one of the latter. She didn't want to embarrass either of them by weeping in public.

"I don't mean to pry," Elijah said quickly.

"No, no, it's fine." Jenna broke off another piece of cookie, glad to have something to focus on. "It's been hard, sometimes, but we've found moments of happiness too."

Elijah reached over and put a hand on hers. His skin was warm to the touch, which still surprised her. She didn't yet understand all the rules. Maybe he'd fed recently. She suppressed a shudder at the thought. She doubted he, like Stefan, preferred blood bags. Though then he could pour the liquid into a crystal glass and sip at it like the refined gentleman he was.

"I know rather a lot about family difficulties," he said, rousing her from her fantasises. "If you ever need to talk, please, call me."

Then what? He'd come to her house, and they'd drink tea, and then he'd lick his tongue along her neck…Jenna blinked. "Thank you."

He nodded and sat back, took up his cup again.

Jenna didn't think vampires could read minds. Still, when he left a few minutes later, Elijah gave her a smile that she fancied wasn't warm or understanding. It was the sort of smile that promised wonderful wickedness. Surely she'd imagined lust in his soulful eyes.

Call him? Yes, she rather thought she would.


End file.
